Will former Cardinal Matt Holliday be voted into the BBWAA Hall of Fame?

Former St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Matt Holliday is on the 2024 Hall of Fame ballot. This is his first year on the ballot, and he will be eligible for ten years assuming 5% of voters elect him into the Hall. Other notable players on the 2024 ballot include Todd Helton, Billy Wagner, Andruw Jones, and Adrian Beltre.

Holliday was elected to the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame just last year. His career in St. Louis spanned from 2009 until 2016.

From a counting stats perspective, Holliday has some relatively noteworthy accomplishments. He exceeded the 2,000-hit mark (2,096 hits) for his career, he hit 316 home runs, his career batting average was just shy of .300 (.299), and he managed to surpass 100 stolen bases and 1,200 runs batted in.

Holliday was recognized a variety of times for his on-field performance. He was an All-Star seven times, a Silver Slugger four times, and he won the batting title in 2007. Holliday won the World Series in 2011 with the Cardinals, and he was the NLCS MVP that same year. He does not, however, have an MVP trophy despite finishing in second place in 2007.

Across his 15-year career, Holliday racked up 44.5 bWAR. Among all left fielders, Holliday ranks 36th in bWAR. Noteworthy players who were not elected to the Hall of Fame but had greater bWAR totals than Holliday include Luis Gonzalez, Jose Cruz, former Cardinal Lance Berkman (who received less than 5% of votes in 2019 and was therefore removed from the ballot), and Sherry Magee.

The St. Louis Cardinals were able to see an alumnus in Scott Rolen be elected to the BBWAA Hall of Fame last year, but it doesn't look like they'll see another one of their former players make it in the Hall this time around. Despite a long, successful career, Holliday falls just short of the bar. Had he won an MVP in 2007 and played a full season in 2015, the story might be a little different. The length of his career is impressive, but he doesn't have the peak four-to-six years like other candidates have. In fact, Holliday runs the risk of not receiving 5% of the votes, thus risking his removal from the ballot altogether.